Adani Defence & Aerospace to invest Rs 3000 cr in its Kanpur missile and ammunition complex

The inauguration of the complex, which took place on February 26, marks the start of operations with an initial investment of Rs 1,500 crore, reported Moneycontrol.

This initiative is expected to generate nearly 4,000 direct job opportunities, with an additional 20,000 jobs anticipated to be created indirectly within micro, small, and medium enterprises, as well as local companies.

Spread across 500 acres, the facilities aim to become the largest ammunition manufacturing facility in South Asia.

In its first year, the complex plans to manufacture a considerable portion of India's annual ammunition requirement, amounting to 150 million rounds of small calibre ammunition.

Subsequently, the focus will shift towards producing large calibre ammunition, with an estimated annual output of 150,000-200,000 rounds from the Kanpur complex within the next 12 months.

The third phase of development will involve medium calibre ammunition production, scheduled for completion by 2026.

"In parallel we are also working on missiles, part of which is going to be done in Hyderabad and part of it in Kanpur," Rajvanshi said.

The venture is the biggest in Uttar Pradesh in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Corridor, Rajvanshi said, adding that Adani Group is investing in capacity even without any orders as it is confident in the quality and pricing of its products, said the report.

"In the last 40 years, my peers and competitors were always waiting for the contract to be awarded and then make the investment. The reason we have been able to grow so fast is that we first make the investment without having an order in place," Rajvanshi told Moneycontrol in Kanpur.

"When the Chief of Army came, the first question he asked was whether we had an order. I said this facility is built on trust - we know that if we make competitive, high quality, and safe ammunition, you'll buy from us," Rajvanshi added.

The complex was unveiled by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, with Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande also in attendance.

He said Adani Defence will continue to fund its projects mainly through equity as it has been so far.

The inauguration of the complex coincides with India's efforts to enhance self-reliance in the defense sector. Rajvanshi underscored that recent global geopolitical conflicts have highlighted the unpredictability of such events, emphasizing the importance of India not relying on external sources to fulfill its defense requirements.

India, being the world's largest arms importer, faced challenges when Russia's capacity to supply arms was affected by its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia is India's biggest arms supplier.

While acknowledging the significant export potential in the defense sector, particularly in fostering bilateral relations, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh expressed optimism on February 24 that India's defense exports could escalate to Rs 50,000 crore by 2028-29, up from Rs 16,000 crore this year. However, Rajvanshi clarified that Adani Defence's primary focus remains on the domestic market.

"Unless the requirements of the country are met, exports does not make any sense because the market is there, it's competitive, it's all available out there. Why would I deploy my people (for the overseas market) when I can't even serve the Indian market," he said.